“Such statements raise the suspicion that Germany should ideally do nothing at all and want to keep possible sanctions as small as possible. And a quiet Federal Chancellor is enthroned above everything,” said Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, Vice President of the German Marshall Fund and former head of the planning office of the then Federal President Joachim Gauck. And he added: “That pays into an account that the new federal government has reopened, where the doubts about Germany are managed.”
Stefan Meister from the German Council on Foreign Relations also emphasized: “These statements confirm what Germany’s allies think about us anyway.” Schönbach speaks “certainly from the heart of many Germans. And that shows how big the divisions in the German elite are when it comes to attitudes toward Russia, and how the federal government’s assurances of sanctions are ultimately worthless.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz again avoided a specific naming of possible sanctions: “Everything we do serves the purpose of preventing further escalation. We have activated all diplomatic channels for this,” Scholz told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Prudence dictates choosing those measures that would have the greatest effect on those violating the commonly agreed principles. “At the same time, we have to consider the consequences this has for us,” emphasized Scholz.
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Such statements and Schönbach’s publicly expressed thoughts “massively question Germany’s international credibility and reliability – not only from the Ukrainian point of view,” said the Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin, Andrij Melnik. In an interview with the Handelsblatt newspaper, he called for Germany to provide Ukraine with at least “100,000 helmets and protective vests to equip volunteers with.” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) had previously rejected arms deliveries to the country, which was under massive pressure from Russia. However, a field hospital is to be delivered to Kiev.
The Ministry of Defense rejected the commander’s statements
Schönbach had asked for his release after his statements at a security conference in India were described by the Federal Ministry of Defense as “in no way corresponding to the position of the Federal Ministry of Defense in terms of content and choice of words”. The Bundeswehr’s former naval inspector had claimed that Putin did not want an attack, but “respect at eye level”. He also said: “Crimea is gone, it will not come back.” Russia had annexed the Ukrainian Black Sea Peninsula in 2014.
“The fact that the occupation of Crimea does not seem to be coming to an end in the near future does not mean that we are under no obligation to uphold international law and thus the inviolability of the sovereignty of Ukraine and other states,” Green Party leader-designate Omid Nouripour told Handelsblatt.
Germany needs Russia against China, Schönbach also said – although Moscow and Beijing have been moving ever closer together for years: economically, politically as part of a strategic partnership and military cooperation. The officer had also used his Catholic faith to argue in favor of including Russia as a Christian country against China and called Putin an atheist – even though the Kremlin boss is a self-confessed Russian Orthodox Christian.
Germany “the weak link”
The US media are now also commenting sharply against Germany’s position in the Russia conflict, also referring to the growing disappointment in the White House about Berlin. The Wall Street Journal wrote on Sunday: “Germany’s dependence on Russian gas limits Europe’s options in the Ukraine crisis”. And the “Washington Post” considers Germany to be “the weak link in the NATO line of defence”. US President Joe Biden is right when he says the divisions in NATO are deep.
At the same time, Washington denied a report by “Spiegel” that Scholz had rejected an invitation from Biden: “This report is wrong. It didn’t happen, it was entirely made up,” said Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the National Security Council White House.
Blinken and Lavrov met in Geneva on Friday.
(Photo: AP)
Meanwhile, tensions between Russia and the West continue to rise even after Foreign Ministers Antony Blinken and Sergei Lavrov met in Geneva on Friday: “There will be very serious consequences” if Russia enthrones a pro-Russian leadership in Ukraine, the British deputy said -Prime Minister Dominic Raab on Sunday. “We will not tolerate the Kremlin plot,” London Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted. Moscow knows that a military invasion would be a major strategic mistake and that severe sanctions would be threatened in this case. Instead, according to British intelligence, the Kremlin wants to install politicians it likes to lead Ukraine.
The USA, Great Britain and other NATO countries have already brought defensive weapons into Ukraine. Because of Berlin’s restrictive attitude, London, when supplying light anti-tank weapons, avoided German airspace and took the detour via Denmark. Reports confirmed by the Handelsblatt also show that the federal government is even blocking the delivery of artillery howitzers from Estonia that were still produced in the GDR.
“Germany should at least not block others”
“Germany should at least not hinder others – like Great Britain and Estonia,” demanded Kleine-Brockhoff. Ambassador Melnyk asked that Germany “no longer stand on the sidelines” given the attitude of the allies. Because “the seriousness of the situation demands an immediate rethink and a change of course from the traffic light coalition on the question of arms deliveries to Ukraine”. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry had also summoned the German ambassador in Kiev, Anka Feldhusen, because of Schönbach’s statements.
In view of the tense situation, the USA is also preparing to evacuate family members of US diplomats from Kiev. Amidst the severe tensions, Washington announced a new NATO maneuver: The “Neptune Strike 22” exercise is to run in the Mediterranean for twelve days from Monday and will involve a US aircraft carrier. The maneuver has been planned for a long time and is not related to fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
Russia had previously announced various naval maneuvers with a total of 140 warships over the next few weeks in the Mediterranean, the Pacific and the Atlantic. In addition, military maneuvers are about to begin in Belarus, and the 100,000 troops that Russia has massed around Ukraine, complete with tanks, rocket launchers and fighter jets, are also scheduled to hold military exercises.
The West and Ukraine are demanding a withdrawal of Russian troops there. Russian President Vladimir Putin is demanding security guarantees for his country, an end to NATO’s eastward expansion and the withdrawal of US nuclear warheads from Europe. Blinken promised Lavrov on Friday that the US would provide a written statement on Moscow’s demands this week.
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